Thousands of lightning strikes sparked across the Bay Area and Central Coast Wednesday and Thursday as a low pressure system passed through, bringing with it a spattering of rain and a cooldown that is set to end as Friday and Saturday’s temperatures heat up again.
Over a 24-hour period from Wednesday to Thursday morning, approximately 5,000 lightning strikes touched down across the regions, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Nicole Sarment. No further lightning was expected in the Bay Area Thursday afternoon or evening.
A map of lightning strikes from the National Weather Service shared Thursday morning showed large amounts of lightning clustered in Contra Costa and Alameda counties over the previous two days. Strikes were recorded across the entirety of Contra Costa, with the highest concentration in the east side of the county, while strikes in Alameda County were centered almost entirely in the county’s east side.
Strikes were also recorded in southwestern Santa Clara County, passing up San Jose and with only a handful of strikes in the eastern part of the county.
The lightning skipped the Peninsula almost entirely – save for a single recorded flash in San Francisco, according to the map.
“There were several storms. It wasn’t just one, but yes, they were very wet thunderstorms,” Sarment said. “We’re mainly done for in terms of potential for lightning.”
In Brentwood, some residents found the influx of lightning unsettling, including Mayor Susannah Meyer.
“It’s been so muggy lately, and I saw there was a slight chance of rain, but I didn’t expect a full-on thunder and lightning show,” Meyer said, adding that she was woken up in the middle of the night by “booming” noises.
The storm caused brief blackouts in two Brentwood neighborhoods — Shadow Lakes and Brentwood Hills, said Brentwood Vice Mayor Pa’tanisha Pierson.
Brentwood resident Jeff Weisinger, who was coaching football at an Oakley high school Wednesday evening, described the lightning as a “cool light show.”
“We don’t get a lot of (bad) weather out here,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a combination of cool and a little scary.”
Officials could not confirm whether a house fire that broke out in Brentwood shortly after midnight Thursday was started by lightning, but Lauren Ono, Contra Costa Fire Protection District public information officer, said that lightning was reported in the area around the time the two-story structure caught fire.
The lighting came from a cut-off flow off the coast of Monterey, which is a standalone low pressure system, while a cluster of storms brought rain across the Bay Area, Sarment said. South Bay cities such as Gilroy saw the highest concentrations of precipitation, with the area receiving just under an inch of rain Wednesday.
Mt. Madonna, which is located between Gilroy and Santa Cruz, received the highest recorded rain level, hitting 1.18 inches, Sarment said.
The cut-off flow was still lingering south of the Bay Area Thursday, bringing rain showers to Monterey County and other southern points, Sarment added.
The weather was expected to heat back up Friday and Saturday, with temperatures rising to the mid to upper 80s in San Jose and the mid 70s in Oakland, Sarment said. Some areas of Contra Costa County could hit the low to mid-90s. The Peninsula’s bayside will warm to the mid-80s while the coastside will hit only the mid-60s.
“The heat will be the notable thing,” Sarment said.
A cluster of rain systems will reach the Bay Area on Sunday and stay through Wednesday, bringing with them a cooldown of temperatures as a system arrives from Alaska, Sarment added.
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“There is rain expected, … but it’s not going to be non-stop rain,” Sarment said. “We’re not expecting any widespread flooding or anything.”
The rain will bring higher precipitation totals to the North Bay and lower in the South Bay, Sarment added.
“It’ll definitely cool off with the help of the rain and the cloud cover,” Sarment said.